The State must prioritise aviation at European level in talks to negotiate Britain’s exit from the bloc, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has warned. Speaking on the impact of aviation as a result of Brexit, Eamonn Brennan, Chief Executive of the Irish Aviation Authority, said air connectivity between Ireland and Britain “is hugely important to the Irish economy both for tourism and trade”.
He said the British market accounts for “over 60pc of the capacity from Shannon, Kerry and Knock and for over 40pc of all the passengers from Dublin. Indeed, if we look at the number of business trips we have via air travel across the whole of the EU, 44pc are with Britain. It really is a crucial enabler for the Irish economy.”
The IAA chief was speaking at an event organised by Shannon Chamber at The Inn at Dromoland. He added that air connectivity all over the world is based on Air Service Agreements. He said that once Britain leaves the EU “a new Air Service Agreement will have to be put in place” between the EU27 and Britain. He warned that if that agreement constraints the ability to fly easily between Ireland and Britain, “then that will be bad for Irish economy in general”.
He said that Ireland must push the aviation agenda at divorce talks: “It looks like we are heading for a hard Brexit so it’s really vital that aviation is at the forefront of the negotiations from an Irish perspective. That’s very important as the rest of the EU might not share the same view as us.”
He conceded that “Brexit does offer some opportunities to Ireland”, which include increasing the attractiveness to transit through Ireland to North America rather than Britain, and our airports are looking at that, but cautioned that “in broader terms a hard Brexit will be difficult for the Irish civil aviation industry”.
